NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48 – Invitation
In a large meeting hall of the Hunter Association.
The room’s layout is centered around a small hexagonal table with multiple seats behind each of their sides. The hexagonal table seated four team captains while the seats behind them are their members.
“We need to start the meeting as soon as possible. The Green Tide is overwhelming, even a group of official rank 1 hunters have a high chance of dying. Every single second wasted in waiting is a second that we can use to prepare against the greenskins.” A blonde youth with a robotic left arm spoke until the edges of his mouth were frothing. He donned a dark grey waffen SS military outfit from the Keiserreich, his seating was exactly behind Li Xiao Bai, the captain of Radiant Desolation.
“I am not saying that we shouldn’t, but please wait for a bit longer. My team’s circumstances are unique as we can be considered as two teams working together. My co-captain has the same level of authority as myself, so I can’t make a decision without her.” Sumire simply replied.
“Klauss, you’re too anxious. Be patient.” Li Xiao Bai entered the conversation. He didn’t want to make a bad impression towards Twin Helix’s captain, but Klauss Ludwig is one of the aces of Radiant Desolation. His words have some weight. “Please do not take his words to heart, Miss Sumire. Even amongst Keiserreich Combat Engineers, he could be considered as the weird ones.”
“None taken.” Sumire nodded. After talking to Li Xiao Bai, she realizes that his personality is humble but not submissive, and confident but not arrogant. He has a great self-control to the point of incomparable to other 2nd generation nobility. In terms of personality alone, he might be the dream husband of most girls.
Unfortunately, he isn’t Sumire’s preference.
At this moment, a youth entered the meeting room, leading two short girls. The first one is a big breasted girl who wore a blue-camo pattern military outfit while the other is a flat chested girl donned in shinobi apparel. The most inconspicuous thing about them is the fact that the flat girl brought a giant oversized gunlance on her back.
“Take a seat.” Shion ordered her teammate.
Everyone in the room immediately took an interest in the newcomer.
“Oh my~ She is interesting…” A female with shoulder-length green hair and a motherly body figure made a comment. Her name is Kobayashi Hana, “What do you think?” She asked her team’s strategist.
“The wooden floor creaked with every step, signifying her great weight. Despite being ‘invisible’ from most of our senses, she can still be detected from sight or the displacement of air. More detection methods can be found if we want to commit telepathic resources for deduction. I cannot detect any elemental undulation from her, so our information which implies that she’s a sound-path antimage is probably true.” Kobayashi Hana heard the reply from her strategist and nodded.
Just as Shion was being inspected by everyone, she was also inspecting everyone. Nobody could see her bloodshot eyes due to her black sclera, but everyone could deduce her moods from the multiple bags under her eyes and the expression as if she’s chewing feces. Despite this, she was able to control her emotion so that it does not affect the discussion.
“You’re just in time.” Sumire shamelessly commented while almost everyone in the room rolled their eyes.
“Apologies. I was in the middle of a critical juncture when the summons was issued. Did the situation in the frontline change recently?” Shion asked.
“Yes.” Kobayashi Hana took the lead in answering Shion’s question. “But first, please take a seat.”
Shion nodded in acknowledgement. She walked towards Sumire’s seat and sat next to her. The Hexagonal table is reserved for team captains, but nobody complained because they all knew Twin Helix has two captains.
“Now that everyone is here, let’s discuss the newest information from the frontline.” Kobayashi Hana spoke. “Everyone gathered here has taken the association’s mission to participate in the greenskin war. However, most of us are here for our own selfish desires. The greenskin races are separated into ‘tiers’, so although goblins, hobgoblins or their variants might not pose a threat to any of you, Orks or Trolls would make you run for your money. That being said, it is best for us to team up and form a platoon.”
“I have chosen all of you because all of your three team compositions have the highest chance of thriving in the war when supported by mine. Do any of you have objections if we work together?” Kobayashi Hana asked as she gazed at the other four team captains.
“You’ve put in an effort to gather us, so I don’t see a problem with listening to your proposal first.” “Agreed.” Sumire said and Shion complimented her answer.
“No problem.” Li Xiao Bai added.
“Indeed.” The last captain in the room said her first word. “However, we need to introduce ourselves first to get to know each other. After all, we couldn’t put our trust in a group of strangers.” She said as she traced her blue-purple colored hair. She had a tall body stature and an extremely unhealthy pale skin tone that is uncommon in Hartina, she stood out like a sore thumb.
“That is fair. Let me start with myself. My name is Li Xiao Bai, I am a first-year student of Southeast Hartina Hunter Academy and also the captain of Radiant Desolation. I am a mage-martial artist hybrid in light-path. As you might have recognized my origin from my name, I hail from a neighboring country, the Qin Empire. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Li Xiao Bai introduced himself elegantly. His last words were decorated with an elegant bow.
Although this is not the first time Shion meets with the platinum-blonde haired dude, she’s closely inspecting him. He has a slim but well-trained body and from the light-path undulation that his body passively emits, he must be in possession of a high-grade mana pool. From all aspects, he looks like someone precious. His clan must’ve put him on a high priority in terms of grooming him.
“I guess it’s our turn now. My name is Violet Sumire of Twin Helix. I’m from the same academy and year as Li Xiao Bai but I am a native of Hartina Kingdom. I am a mage of enslavement-path and wisdom-path. It’s a pleasure to meet with you all.” She made her introduction short.
“Yukikaze Shion, sound-path Antimage and Combat Engineer specialized in refinement of heavy weapons and explosives. I come from the Fuyuhiro Mountain Range and am the co-captain of Twin Helix with Sumire. Oh, right. Although I am small, I excel at handling heavy weapons.” She said as she pats her heavy gunlance. “It’s an honor to meet all of you, especially friends from the Seas of Eternal Winter.” Shion gazed at the blue-purple haired lady whose external demeanor seemed cold.
The woman squinted her eyes before realizing it was her turn. “Ah, right. My name is Anastasia of House Victoria; you may call me Anastasia. I am a combat mage of ice and snow-path while also dabbling in wisdom-path. My team is called Frozen Heart; our team excels in AoE DoT spells. We are 4th year students of Southeast Hartina Hunter Academy from the Student Exchange Program of the Hunter Association. As Shion has said earlier, we hail from the Seas of Eternal Winter.”
Not only is her body height much taller than the Hartina locals, she also has an unhealthy pale skin tone due to the lack of melanin in her skin and a different type of beauty in her facial structure. She donned a tight pale blue magical robe that highlighted her busty breast and there’s warm beast furs on her neck part of the robe. Her apparel doesn't fit the environment of the Land of Autumn Rain, but nobody commented on her sense of fashion.
“So your team was the recipient of that scholarship, great!” Shion praised her.
“For you to put more attention toward us, have you met with people from the Union?” Anastasia asked.
Unlike the Land of Autumn Rain (southern continent) or the Land of Sand and Fire (eastern continent) which have multiple great countries inhabiting it, the Seas of Eternal Winter (western region) only have one singular ultra-country usually referred to as the Union.
The people of the Union have an unnaturally strong sense of unity due to their geographical condition, harsh environment and other factors. Most of them have an unhealthy pale skin tone due to the lack of sunlight, and they have an innate distrust towards others not from their own motherland. That being said, if one manages to be accepted by their society, they will think of you as their own.
“Yes! So I know a bit of your culture, Tovarishch-Anastasia.” Shion winked. Of course, she couldn’t tell Anastasia that the ‘Celestial Siren’ Yulsaria, one of the 4th generation Braves who hailed from the Seas of Eternal Winter, was one of her former self’s wife.
“I see. Let’s have a chat later. It’s hard to find someone who understands our culture.” Anastasia said, with a joyful smile as if her previous cold attitude was fake.
Other captains raised their eyebrows at Shion’s usage of unfamiliar words, but they did not comment. From Anastasia’s quick change in attitude, they suspected that it must be caused by something related with the culture of the western region.
“Right.” Shion replied. “We’ve finished exchanging pleasantries, now please continue.” She urged Kobayashi Hana.
“It’s good to have a great harmony with each other, but we have to proceed.” She quickly hides her reaction. “I am Kobayashi Hana, 2nd year student of Hartina Royal Academy in the kingdom’s capital. Although I am a wood-path mage, I could be considered as an enslavement-path expert as well. I led Thousand Flowers as its captain. As for my origin, I’m sure all of you have an inkling already, it’s one of the Kingdom’s Nine Master Clans: Kobayashi clan.”
Kobayashi Hana continued, “The reason why I have gathered all of you here is because greenskin activities have been escalating on a large scale. Although they are still within Azaria Forest, the forest is huge and separated into multiple areas. My information suggests that most greenskins are moving towards the zombie mutant-infested radioactive wasteland, the Ruined Wood Palace.”
Some people in the room sighed when they heard the name Ruined Wood Palace.
“For those who aren’t aware, the Ruined Wood Palace is originally known as the Azaria Wood Palace. It is a wood-path resource point that produces certain Rank 3 resources on a large scale, the home of the Ancient Dawn Ents before they were nearly exterminated and reduced to their current situation.” Kobayashi Hana narrated.
“During the 4th World Calamity, Demon King Maximilian sent his minions to demonize the area. He successfully demonized the intelligent tree races in the Wood Palace, but the Great Archmage Mordred denied King Maximilian’s advancement with… nuclear bombardment.” She added.
Hearing Kobayashi Hana’s explanation, Shion put on a serious expression.
“Historical records indicate that the Great Archmage dropped a total of 1.104 strategic nuclear warheads on Azaria Wood Palace, reducing the Ancient Dawn Ent’s capital into a radioactive wasteland. Not long after the war, Azaria Wood Palace is referred to as Ruined Wood Palace, a poison-path resource point overrun with irradiated zombie mutants.
However, the current situation is a million times better than letting demons claim it into a land of chaos. The Ruined Wood Palace produced copious amounts of poison-path resources and suppressed the growing threat of the Ancient Dawn Ent. It could be said that it was the grace given to us by the Great Archmage. If the demons terraformed Azaria Wood Palace into a land of chaos, perhaps the only solution the Great Archmage can offer is to freeze it with [Profound Dao Ice] like how he froze the Extreme South.” Kobayashi Hana finished her words.
Shion mentally disagreed with Hana. That wasn’t the only solution, but it was the most convenient at that time.
“So, you wanted to lead us to fight a war in the Ruined Wood Palace?” Anastasia asked.
“Yes.” Kobayashi Hana answered with great confidence in her tone. “My team, Thousand Flowers, is filled with wood-path cultivators specialized in defense, support and healing. Our combat tactic is simply outlasting the enemy, I am sure that my team’s specialty will be valuable in combating the radiation and other harmful pathogens in the Ruined Wood Palace. Instead of going there with 10 to 12-man per team, it’s better if we move together as a 50-man or so platoon with squads taking charge of certain roles instead. I believe it will give us greater survivability when fighting against the Green Tide in that inhospitable environment.”
“Your proposal… made a lot of sense. I, Li Xiao Bai of Radiant Desolation, pledge my cooperation with Thousand Flower’s Kobayashi Hana.” There was a brief period of silent pondering before Li Xiao Bai confidently declared his decision.
“Since it’s a war, it’s better if we have comrades that we can trust. Your invitation moved us. We want in.” Anastasia Victoria said as she gazed at Shion as if she’s urging her.
Her answer put Twin Helix into the center of attention.
Sumire and Shion traded glances before Shion answered. “A sound argument. Thousand Flower’s supportive methods are well known amongst the teams in the Royal Academy, it would be extremely helpful if your team is a part of us. However, we need to discuss the specifics if we join. Such as the spoils of war, the personnel distributions, and other aspects. And so, I represent Twin Helix to decide our participation in the group.”
“Excellent!” Kobayashi Hana smiled. “Let’s discuss the specifics.”
‘Know thyself and thy enemy, and you shall not fear the result of a thousand battles’ was a quote that the Great Archmage Mordred often said before he became the Devil King (Plagiarized from Holy Terra’s Sun Tzu, of course).
As the creator of wisdom-path, his quotes have great strategic depth. If one understands oneself and one’s enemy, then the battle result can be determined before it even starts. That being said, if we took a step further, when one has a great understanding of one’s allies' motives, then one can anticipate the chances of betrayal.
After all, as long as one does not have conflict of moral, ideological, or benefit, there’s no actual reason to betray.
Everyone is inherently selfish, but it doesn't mean everyone desires the same thing. In a world of cultivation, a wood-path resource, no matter how precious it is, will definitely benefit wood-path cultivators the most. It is the same with other paths. Even if a cultivator cultivates multiple paths or is capable of using the said resource for the activation of their own path, there’s an order of priority for resources.
Thus, discussion regarding benefit distribution is extremely important.
“I want my team to have priority share of water-path resources before poison-path and wood-path ones.” Anastasia Victoria proposed.
Her team, Frozen Heart, is filled with women who primarily cultivate in ice and snow-path. It is a branch of water-path, so their resources have some similarity or even overlap together, allowing easier usage of alternative materials when casting magic spells or cultivating martial arts.
“My Radiant Desolation will choose poison-path resources as our first priority, then blood-path and wood-path.” Li Xiao Bai did not hide his desire for uncommon resources.
However, it was actually understandable. Their goal is the Ruined Wood Palace, a poison-path resource point. It contains various types of poison that overlap with other elemental paths. Since refinement-path experts could refine poison into medicine, then they can also refine poison into catalysts for spell catalysts or as cultivation resources.
“Then, what about your team, Sumire and Shion?” Kobayashi Hana asked.
Sumire simply closed her eyes while letting Shion do all the talks. “This level of discussion is ineffective. I proposed to use information-path methods to replicate the contribution point system of the Hunter Association.”
Shion snaps her fingers to beckons Murasaki Ayame. The person in question stood up from her seat and approached Shion.
“Please materialize that ring used by Galatreon’s soldiers during demon hunting missions.” Shion asked her.
Ayame nodded as she interacted with her Omni-Gear. Soon, a set of simple rings with a prismatic gem embedded on it materializes on Shion’s hand.
Shion passed those rings to the four captains and interacted with her very own Omni-Gear. “This is called Combat Tracer, a low-complexity yet important information-path artifact used by Galatreon’s soldiers. It contains two main functions: 1. Transmit your location to the ‘server’ so that the commander can swiftly make strategic decisions and 2. Track your contribution so that rewards and punishment can be defined clearly by the use of contribution points. In essence, we are replicating the method that the Hunter Association used with their ID Cards, but without using them.”
A hunter’s ID Card is very important. It contains personal information such as one’s physical attributes data or other personal information that could be used to deduce one’s weaknesses. Hunters will always try not to show their ID Cards to others unless they are trustworthy.
And so, the four captains put the rings on their fingers.
“Thankfully, all of you are mages so it makes things easier. Now I want you to interact with the artifact through your spiritual force. You can immediately know it’s function and if you want to activate them or not.” Shion suggested.
The captains did as they were told. “I see. This will make it easier for us to divide contribution points.” Kobayashi Hana muttered in amazement.
“Yes. During combat, it would be best if all the members who wore the ring to activate both functions while deactivating the location tracker function during non-combat situations… Though it isn’t ready yet. I just thought about it just now, I need to procure some more rings and ask my team members to fine tune it so there’s no information leakage.” Shion asked them to give the Combat Tracer rings back.
“Now that we can count on the member’s contribution using clear metrics, let’s discuss the distribution of personnel.” Hana was efficient, she immediately moved on to the next topic.
“Making a platoon won’t be effective in the short run as we have little trust with each other.” Shon muttered, overriding Hana’s authority as the crowned leader of this expedition. “But, I’ll give authority of my members to you, Sumire. You can do as you see fit.” Shion ended her words with a yawn.
And then she slept with her hand crossed on her flat chest.
Shion was unbelievably rude towards others, but she had contributed a solution to one of their problems before sleeping, so others who didn’t agree how she did things can only grind their teeth in annoyance.
“Her words addressed my worries.” Anastasia Victoria agreed with Shion. People from the Union care a lot regarding trust between their members. If Hana thinks she can lead these people just because of her special identity, then she’ll be greatly disappointed.
“Don’t worry, we have prepared for this.” Hana snapped her finger, prompting her strategist who’s ready to help her.
Thousand Flower’s strategist is a female with shoulder-length silky green hair donned in a priestess robe. She brought a stack of scrolls, ink bottles, and quills onto the table.
“These are… Blank Soul Contracts…” Sumire identified the scrolls immediately. From a glance, she could determine that they are not made out of normal magical paper, but one treated with a profound method to increase its quality. The ink bottle is also filled with uncommon ink known as Ethereal Ink Blood, a blood-path material that could react to souls.
Although Ethereal Ink Blood is one of the few blood-path resources that were allowed to be circulated in the market, it is still an uncommon material. It’s not at the price of a supreme treasure, but it is still something that Sumire couldn’t afford to purchase on a whim.
“If it was a pre-prepared Soul Contract, nobody will believe you. It seems like you’ve come prepared.” Anastasia commented, a sense of appreciation is laced in her tone.
“What can I say, preparation is the mother of success.” Hana smiled.
“Alright. With this, we can formulate the perfect Soul Contract clauses together.” Sumire proposed.
