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On this morning, Elias and Maeve had retreated to take care of some business. They hadn’t said what it was. Arwin hadn’t asked. They still deserved their privacy.

Monica only worked the night shifts, when there were enough rowdy adventurers to actually warrant the presence of a bouncer, so this was one of those even more rare times where the Menagerie was not only able to meet in whole, but they were also alone.

“With regard to Phoenix Circle?” Reya asked. “Or the tournament as a whole?”

“The latter,” Rodrick replied. He sent a glance at Olive and chuckled. “I think we’ve already got someone doing all the digging on them that we need. She’s been spending more time with those two than she has with us.”

Olive’s cheeks reddened and she looked down at her plate, which had been completely licked clean of the scrambled eggs and toast that Lillia had prepared for breakfast that morning.

“I’m doing my best to get to know them. I don’t think you can replicate years of experience by cramming everything into a few weeks, but it’s the only option we’ve got. We need to catch up to the teams that have been working together since they started adventuring.”

“That’s very wise of you,” Lillia said. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Olive. You don’t have to stare at your plate like that.”

“Thanks.” Olive let her gaze lift from the plate and ran a hand through her hair. “It’s just stressful. I didn’t think I’d be getting into something like this again. Ever. Grinding out dungeons has been good for my level, but—”

“What are you at now?” Reya asked eagerly before Olive could finish her sentence. It was her turn to blush. She cleared her throat. “Sorry. Ignore me. Please continue.”

“It’s fine,” Olive said through a snort. “I’d have gotten pissed off a long time ago if something like that offended me.”

“Thanks— wait a minute. What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m up to Journeyman 8.”

Surprise welled within Arwin’s chest. Olive really had been grinding through dungeons. She was only two steps away from Adept. Granted, steps between Tiers were often the most difficult, but there was a very good chance she’d hit the Third Tier before the tournament.

“You’re not pushing too fast, are you?” Anna asked. “Make sure you aren’t neglecting any of your Achievements. And if you aren’t—”

“I’m not.”

“—then don’t neglect your body.” Anna tapped Olive on the forehead. “Advancing at incredible speeds is taxing, especially if you aren’t just pushing for levels without getting Achievements. It means you’re seeking out challenges that are constantly pushing you to your limits. Don’t forget to take a few breaks in-between.”

Olive grimaced, but she gave Anna a small nod. “I know. I’m not trying to kill myself. But Elias and Maeve are trying just as hard. They’re serious about this, and I’m not going to let them down. Not when they were fine with… me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Reya said stiffly.

“My Challenge,” Olive said. “There’s a whole lot wrong with that.”

“It’s a Challenge,” Arwin corrected. “Nothing more. Nothing less. I don’t think the Mesh gives people things that are actively meant to be bad or evil. That’s never what it’s been about. You’re going about things the right way this time around. Don’t keep beating yourself up for a mistake in the past. You can’t fix it, so you’re only suffering needlessly.”

“And maybe slow down so the rest of us can keep up,” Rodrick grumbled, a note of humor in his voice making it clear that he was joking. “I’m only Journeyman 6 right now. Unlike the rest of you, I actually have work to do.”

Journeyman 6? Gah. I’m happy for them, but I’m jealous of how fast they can advance. I wonder if there’s something Lillia and I can do to improve the speed that our crafting classes grow at without skimping on Achievements. The Mesh doesn’t do unfair disadvantages. Just different situations… so there should be a way to keep up with the others.

“Are you going to say what it is you figured out about the tournament?” Lillia asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Or were you just planning on teasing us with that before moving on?”

“Oh, whoops. Right,” Rodrick said with a sheepish grin. “In my defense, I got interrupted.”

“Acceptable defense if this was a court,” Lillia said. “Unfortunately, it is not and I am impatient. Come on already. Out with it.”

“I’ve managed to… procure a list of some of the teams that should be participating this year. A lot of the strong ones, at least.”

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Arwin blinked in surprise. “Really? I would have thought the Secret Eye would have been fairly… I don’t know. Secretive about that? How did you manage to figure that out? Just the teams that participated last year?”

“Do you really think so poorly of me?” Rodrick leveled a flat stare in Arwin’s direction. “You think it would take me this long just to get a list of the people that participated in the tournament last year? I had that on the second day, and it only took that long because I was otherwise occupied on the previous day.”

“Yup. I remember that,” Olive said as she exchanged a sidelong glance with Reya. “We heard.”

Anna reddened.

“Thicker walls, Lillia.” Rodrick pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please.”

“They’re on the list. I just had some renovations done, you know? The new areas have thicker walls.”

“Well, give the old ones thicker walls too,” Rodrick grumbled as the rest of the Menagerie chuckled. He tapped a finger on the countertop to pull their attention back to the presence. “And as to the actual topic of the conversation — I’ve identified a few teams that we should pay particular attention to.”

The mood in the room turned more serious.

“Which ones?” Lillia asked.

“Well,” Rodrick replied. “In particular, there are —”

***

“Three teams that we need to be wary of,” Art said. He lifted his eyes from the stacks of paper littered across the large, wooden desk he sat at.

Vix sat in a chair across from him, her fingers interlaced in her lap as she stared on at him patiently. It almost made him feel like he knew what he was doing, and like he wasn’t five sizes too small to be sitting at this huge hunk of wood.

“Just three?” Vix asked. “I would have thought there would be more.”

“Even with my dead weight strapped to your leg, you’re strong enough to deal with all of the others in our bracket with the help of any semi-competent adventurer. You—”

“Did you find one?”

“No,” Art snapped, the word coming out sharper than he’d intended. He winced. “Sorry. No. Not yet. I’m working on it, Vix.”

“Sorry,” Vix said. “I know you are. Keep going. If you think I can handle the others, then I believe you. You’ve never been wrong about this kind of thing before. So I’ve got 4 real opponents. Tell me about them.”

“The first is Starforge’s team. That one should be obvious, though,” Art said.

Vix’s lips thinned. “Of course. Rank 2 in the previous tournament. Personal vendetta, and they’ve got the fucking Gravity Mage as well as those Fire and Water twins.”

“Right,” Art said. He pulled a deck of cards from his sleeve and rifled them together before flipping the top card over to reveal a drawing of a large, stocky man with tanned skin and a thick layer of black hair that hung to his shoulders. Several lines of description ran beneath the drawing. “Gordon is the team leader. He’s Adept 7, and a powerful gravity mage.”

“The cards are cute.”

Art’s cheeks reddened. “Do you want information or not? I thought they’d make things easier to study!”

“No, please. Keep going,” Vix said, picking up Gordon’s card and studying Art’s notes on him. “How do I deal with this?”

“Haven’t figured that out yet,” Art replied, laying three more cards out on the table. “This is just the initial information. I’ll figure the strategies out once we know the rules of the game.”

“Don’t we already know the rules?”

Art put a finger on one of the cards and slid it across the table to draw Vix’s attention to it.

“You don’t know the rules until you know your opponents,” Art replied. “And that brings us to a team that actually scored quite poorly last year, but I believe they’ll be a major threat. A group of warriors from the Kererus Coalition, led by—”

***

“—Shade, a creepy fucker with a mixture of shadow magic and up-in-your-face warrior shit,” Rodrick said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and leaning back in his chair. “We’re going to be real careful with these idiots. The Kererus Coalition—”

“The ones that tried to kill Melissa?” Reya asked.

“Yes, them,” Rodrick said with a nod. “Shade is the leader of their main combat group. Merchants don’t usually have many actually competent warriors of their own, so the ones they do have get outfitted very well. I’m more worried about the shit they’ll bring than the skills they actually have.”

“Good to know,” Olive said. “Do you know what we should prepare for?”

“Not yet. Sorry. I’m on it. I was just focusing on figuring out who we’re actually dealing with. Plans for things like this have to be personalized

.”

“Makes sense,” Lillia said. “Maybe we can get the Montibeau family and the Dawnseekers to get involved in some funding or otherwise supporting us against them. Melissa would definitely be willing to make the Kererus Coalition look like a joke in public.”

“Definitely an avenue worth perusing,” Rodrick said with a grin. “But that lot aren’t the biggest threat we’ve got, nor is Starforge.”

“The winners of the previous tournament,” Arwin guessed. “I’d bet they’re the ones we have to be keeping a look out for, right?”

Rodrick scratched at the back of his head. “Actually…”

***

“He’s dead.” Art said.

Vix stared at him for a long second. Art shuffled the cards in his hand again. He wasn’t joking, but it took her a moment to process that. “What?”

“Kien the Twinblade. He won the Tournament on his own the last time around. No team.”

“Yes, I remember,” Vix exclaimed. “He died? How?”

“A few days ago. Kien went missing and his brother reported it a little while ago. His magic was… quite distinct. There’s no way someone like him would be laying low right now. He probably bit off more than we can chew. It’s lucky for us. I don’t think you could beat him.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“It’s realism,” Art corrected. “Kien was a monster. The most talented Adept since the Hero. He was also Adept 9 — nearly Expert Tier. Do you really think you could fight that?”

“No,” Vix admitted. “So if it’s not him, then who?”

“Him.”

Art’s eyes darkened as he flipped one last card and pushed it across the table to his sister. She picked it up, blinking in surprise as she scanned over its contents. She glanced over its top at Art, squinting at him.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am completely serious,” Art said. “Your reaction is going to be what most peoples’ will be, and that’s what will cost them the victory against his team. This man poses the biggest threat to us. I’m absolutely certain of it.”

“He looks like he’d be more likely to give me a comforting hug than anything else.”

“I’m sure he would,” Art said grimly. “And he’d probably slide a dagger between your ribs as he let you go. Do you have any idea who this is?”

“His name is right there. You forgot the rest of the description, though.”

Aside from a drawing of a jovial looking man with a mop of blond hair, the card was completely empty beyond the name of a single guild — but Art hadn’t forgotten anything.

“His name and guild were the only thing I could find about him when I researched his identity,” Art said.

Vix went stiff in her chair. “That’s all youcould find? Seriously?”

“He’s wiped everything,” Art said, a note of awe entering his tone. “There’s no trace of any history related to him beyond a few months ago. It’s like he just… sprung into existence.”

“I’ve never seen you get stumped like this. Who could pull something like that off?”

Art plucked the card from Vix’s hands and placed it onto the table.

“Apparently, he goes by Rodrick.”