“…What are you mumbling about?” Cecilia said, with a hint of curiosity mixed in her voice, as she saw him walk down the stairs. She was not the only one curious in the hall though. Sitting around her, the other Star Seekers were also staring at him curiously. Of them all, only Yuri was waiting for him patiently, while Vestia was smirking at him.

  “To think that a day would come, when you would be the last one of us to come to our meeting… That too, when you were the one to prepone our meeting…”

  “…I encountered a little trouble in the Origin Sea…”

  “Are you alright?” Vestia said, dropping her smile for a worried look in an instant, as did everyone else. Even Yuri.

  “…Trouble?” Yuri said solemnly, before reaching out to him with her rings. “You did not tell me about it.”

  “I was about to, but then I thought you might be meditating, so I put it off for later,” Alnea said to Yuri, as he took his seat, and smiled to reassure Vestia and Cecilia. “Don’t worry. It was not a big deal.”

  “…Encountering troubles in the Origin Sea is not a big deal?”

  “Do you see any of my arms or legs missing?”

  “…If you do not take the Origin Sea seriously, then losing your limbs would be the least of the consequences.”

  “Exactly. And that’s why I am saying that everything is alright.”

  “…I do not know whether I should be happy or concerned.”

  “Stop fussing about it,” Cecilia said, after she had regained her composure, trying to act calm and composed in front of everyone. “If he was in trouble, he would have asked for my help already. Since he did not, then he should be fine.”

  “…I wonder who was almost on the verge of tears just now…”

  “Shut up, vixen!”

  “Why? Cannot handle the truth?”

  “…At least I was not…”

  Ignoring the two girls arguing with each other, Yuri stared at him solemnly, and said, “Even if I am meditating, you can always reach out to me if you are in trouble.”

  “…It was nothing too dangerous. Just a little hiccup that caused me to stay in the Origin Sea a little longer than usual.”

  “Was it something like what we faced on my first Wandering?”

  “It was similar, but like I said, things were not as dangerous. I knew how to handle the situation this time.”

  “…Two Mysteries?”

  “…Three, actually. One Advanced Stage, and two Intermediate Stage. All from the lineage of Fate.”

  “…This does not make any sense.”

  “Nothing in the Origin Sea makes sense.”

  “…The Curse?”

  “Maybe. Not sure. It is not the right time yet.”

  “…Still, let’s try to be more careful in the next few months.”

  “…That’s one of the reasons why I asked everyone to meet earlier than usual,” Alnea said to Yuri, while waiting for Cecilia and Vestia to calm down. Which they did, as usual, when they had grown tired of each other. Taking advantage of the silence, he coughed, and drew everyone’s attention back to himself.

  “Before I tell you why I asked you to gather a little earlier today, let’s start with reporting the results of the missions that you were asked to complete.”

  “That’s fine with me.”

  “I do not have any problems either.”

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  “…I may need a couple of more days to complete one of my missions.”

  “It’s alright. Just report your progress if your missions have not been completed yet.”

  “…Then it’s fine with me too.”

  “So, who is going first?”

  “Let’s do it in the same order as everyone took their missions… Karl?”

  “…Of the three missions I took, I have already completed two of them, and given all the information that I gathered to Vestia. The only mission left is investigating the details of the team that has recently risen in the Tenth Blood Hall of the Northern District.”

  “Completing the hunting missions before the investigating mission… Have you finally realised the true essence of what being a Wanderer means?” Norren said with a laugh, prompting Zain and Ralph to join in, only for Karl to sneer at them.

  “Do not impose your understanding of Wanderers onto others… always thinking about fighting and killing,” Karl said, before turning towards Alnea. “Captain, I think it would be best if you give them some investigative missions, and temper their characters, or their recklessness might hinder us in the Trials ahead of us.”

  “…Let’s talk about that later. For now, continue with your report. Why have you not investigated the team in the Tenth Blood Hall yet? Did you encounter some troubles?”

  “…It is not that I did not investigate them,” Karl said in a gloomy voice, shaking his head with a sigh. “I have been investigating them ever since you gave me the mission. Yet, no matter how I look into their background, I cannot find anything that might connect them together. Even most of their abilities are a mystery.”

  “…Have they not fought much in the Arena?”

  “How is that possible?” Karl said, shaking his head. “Other than a few of us here, they are the most active Wanderers in the Northern Blood Arena. And have been so for nearly a year. It is just that their rankings are higher than us, and have always been acting alone in the city, so they did not draw too much attention to themselves. Still, it does not change the fact that they have fighting in the Arena for over a year.”

  “Then why are their abilities a mystery?”

  “Because all of them, without exception, used abilities from only one of the three paths in the Arena.”

  “…Maybe they are specialising in only one of the three paths,” Ralph said in a subdued voice, as he glanced around the hall. “In fact, most of the Wanderers are like that. Except for a few freaks amongst us.”

  “…Do you think I never thought of that possibility?” Karl said, almost rolling his eyes at Ralph. “From the way that those people fought, it would indeed appear as if they have specialised in only one of the three paths. It is only after I dug some more information about them, that I came across a terrifying possibility.”

  “…Stop going around in circles, and just get to the point already,” Cecilia said, after she had enough of the suspense. “Seriously, why do the men create so much drama.”

  “…He is not creating drama, Lia. He is just giving you a chance to learn how to draw inferences from given information.”

  “Why do I have to learn such boring things?”

  “To share the burden for your teammates.”

  “…Am I not thinking about the vixen next to me? If I learn to draw inferences from information, what is she going to do?”

  “…Ignore her, Karl. Continue with what you were saying.”

  “…Those Wanderers… guess what are their ranks in the three halls?”

  “…Since you sound so serious, I would say top hundred in the field of their specialisation, and top thousand in the other two paths,” Aren said after some thought, with Fran and Zain nodding along with him.

  “Wrong,” Karl said, shaking his head. “They have manged to push their way into the top hundred ranks in all three paths. Some of them have even reached the top ten ranks of the Tenth Blood Hall.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “Does that not mean that they have basically dominated the Tenth Blood Hall?”

  “How have they remained anonymous until now?”

  “…That’s the point,” Karl said. “They have such good ranks. Even if they did not shine as brightly as our Captain, there should have been rumours of their individual performances in the Trials. Yet, no one heard about them until they banded together. The only possible way I can think they might have done this is by always remaining just shy of breaking records. Even in the Initial and Intermediate Stage Trials. Only in such a way could they get good results, and yet remain inconspicuous.

  “Could you imagine resisting the temptation of breaking records, and always maintaining your performance to remain just shy of breaking records? It would probably be even harder than breaking records themselves. And could be done only if they all agreed upon it beforehand. The problem is, these ten people, they are all from different clans, spread all across the Lightning Region. When exactly did they agree to cooperate? And what are they cooperating for? What is their goal? Entering the inner city? Or…”

  “That’s enough,” Alnea said, staring solemnly at Karl. “We must respect our enemies, and should never underestimate them, but we must also never cower before even meeting them. I am sure that this team of Wanderers is formidable, and it is very much possible that they are stronger than us. Yet, it is precisely because they are stronger than us, that we must not back down. Because once we are afraid, our path of Wandering the Origin Sea will be cut off.

  “I know what you want to say. And yes, just because you chose to be cautious, does not mean that you have given up on forging ahead on your path. But think of this another way. If you do not even dare to face enemies who are in the same Rank as you, who are in the same Stage as you, how are you going to save yourself when enemies an entire Stage, or even an entire Rank above comes after your life?

  “Do not tell me that Wanderers of higher Rank will disdain to come after you. Your enemies will not care how strong or weak you are. They will only care about how much benefit you can bring to them. And if they choose not to deal with you, it will only mean that you are more valuable to them alive than you are dead. That is how the world of Wanderers work… Do you understand what I am saying, Karl?”