BK2: Chapter 16

The massive asura raised Aaron into the air, cheering his name, with Talia only a step behind.

“That was amazing, A-ran! Absolutely incredible!”

“Glad you think so. But do you mind?”

“Oh, right,” Mo’han dropped him back down.

Talia looked at Aaron in a completely different light now. She had been happy enough to work with him, and the fact that he was here in the first place no doubt meant something. But this?

She wasn’t ashamed to think that she really hadn’t expected him to pull through. How could he? In fact, she wasn’t even sure beating someone with that much of a Stat advantage was possible. And it wasn’t just Stats. She had replaced multiple Skills with better options between Aaron’s level and where she was now, and no doubt he would do the same.

Just how much potential does Aaron have?

After what he had done to the other guy, she’d been apprehensive about her chances against Voidrin herself. And yet, Aaron had walked out there without a care and even managed to best him. It was hard to wrap her head around.

That said, it was good news. Very good news. She got a good feeling from Aaron. He seemed genuine, even if he did seem a little aloof at times.

In fact, she actually felt a little excited. Sure, he had some advantages from spending so much time in the trials. He didn’t have to worry about dying; there were gods to train with, and he could learn all kinds of stuff from the various rooms. But there was also so much he was missing out on.

What would happen when he left and gained access to the normal questing system and plentiful monsters to slay and grow stronger from?

Talia wasn’t sure, but she knew she wanted to find out.

But before she could lay her own praise on for the impressive performance, a woman called out.

Talia turned. It was the beautiful freckled girl. Even Talia got caught in her mesmerizing green eyes as she walked over.

Elmira Ferara [ Level 85 ]

Titles: [ Giant Slayer ] [ Speedrunner ]

“That was an impressive fight,” Elmira said, sizing them up as she approached.

One of Pentival’s people? What could she want?

“Oh, hey,” Aaron said, looking a little surprised. “Thanks… can I help you?”

“Just thought I’d introduce myself, but I’m sure you’ve already inspected me. I had to say something. To be honest, I didn’t think you stood a chance. And yet you beat him. I’ve fought with Cairon for almost the entire Tutorial, and he’s no pushover. The fact you were able to do that… yeah, like I said, it’s impressive.”

“Yeah, I doubt many thought I could,” Aaron shrugged. “To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure I could win either. That’s kind of why. A good bit of practice, you know?”

“Practice? You’re an odd one, Aaron Dober. I hope we can talk a little more in the future,” Elmira said, winking at Aaron, and then turning away, glancing at both Mo’han and Talia as she left.

“I must say, she’s quite the head turner, for a non-asura that is,” Mo’han said, watching her leave.

She sure seemed chummy.

Talia didn’t have a reason to dislike her, but the entire encounter felt a little off. For now, at least, she was going to have her guard up around that one.

***Aaron***

“Hmph,” that was odd, Aaron thought. Had Pentival put her up to it? He was the boss of their little group, wasn’t he? Or were they more autonomous than he realized?

It was probably good to keep an open mind. He really didn’t know anything about them besides Pentival’s grand claims, and for all he knew, she just wanted to share her thoughts on the fight.

“You know, Aaron, you and I should really fight sometime.”

“You and me, Mo’han?” Aaron echoed.

“Yes, A-ran. A friendly. A challenge against each other’s steel. An opportunity to harden ourselves against each other’s power.”

“Yeah, that actually sounds pretty fun. Another time, though, huh? I think Pentival and his flock have seen enough.”

“I see,” Mo’han rubbed his luscious beard. “I concur. We shall save it for another time. Our rivals need not see all of our secrets. Smart as always, A-ran!”

Aaron didn’t know how much it really mattered. Pentival and his people were from another world, and it might be a while before they ran into each other again, if at all. Would gleaming the secrets of a low E grade really have much bearing on a D grade, or maybe even C grade? Probably not. So far, the only real near-future threat was the necromancer, and he hadn’t been present, so he wasn’t too worried.

Aaron’s gaze fell back on Elmira, who was now talking to Pentival and her other companions.

Maybe this is an opportunity?

He wondered.

Having friends across the sector could come in handy, and whilst he didn’t particularly like Pentival’s grand claims, the guy at least seemed diplomatic. Better than some of the others he had met in this place so far.

“Alright, well, I had things to do,” Aaron said. “Trials aren’t going to beat themselves.”

“Right, good luck, A-ran!” Mo’han waved.

“Yeah, I need to catch up myself,” Talia said. “You’re all ahead of me.”

Heading back through the hallway, Aaron said goodbye to his friends and stood by the trial dial as he tried to consider what to do next.

Something easy, he thought. Maybe it was time for a Trial of Wit. Surely he should be able to knock out a few of those. Then again, the experience for low-level trials wasn’t very much.

Is it worth it? I’d win more items, but most of the low-level trial rewards aren’t that good… and I’m not even sure I need the room upgrades.

Maybe he would be better off just doing more stages of the Trial of Endurance. At least it would give him more ingredients to grind out his Profession a little more before leaving the trials. After all, what if ingredients weren’t easy to come by on Superearth?

Aaron mused on this thought for a moment. He really didn’t know what to expect when he left the trials. He had gotten used to having everything right where he needed it.

How was his cooking going to change when he suddenly had to source his own ingredients? What if he couldn’t fill his pouch with food so easily? What if food was scarce on Superearth?

It was a troubling thought, one that made him reach for the dial. If he could at least push his Profession more and get a bunch of extra levels, then he wouldn’t have to worry about potentially getting sidetracked and plateauing as much, and could pick up on leveling his Profession later.

Yeah, don’t have much of a choice, do I?

Aaron groaned. Not because it was a bad idea, but being overly rational always felt a little boring to him. But he couldn’t deny that it was a good idea.

“Here we go—”

“Hey!”

“Huh?” Aaron stopped short of pressing the dial and turned, his hand less than an inch from it.

It was Elmira. What was she doing here?

“Have a minute?”

“Umm–sure?”

“Sorry, you look busy. I can come back another time if you like.”

“No, it’s fine,” Aaron pulled his hand away. “I’ve been here long enough. The trial can wait a minute.”

“I was just wondering something,” Elmira said, glancing over his shoulder toward the dial as she spoke.

“Oh? And what was that?” Aaron raised a brow.

“It’s just that my friends haven’t seen you in the Communications Room. You seem like you really know what you’re doing around here. We were just wondering why. And since I’m one of the only people in our group that hasn’t got around to unlocking it yet, I thought I’d ask.”

“Communications Room? Wait, what the hell is that?”

“You don’t know?” Elmira’s brow furrowed.

“Never heard of it. This isn’t some game that master of yours is playing, is it?”

“No game,” she shook her head. “And I’d rather you don’t call him my master. I’m my own person. I work with Pentival because he knows what he’s doing, not because he owns me.”

“Fine, sorry. So what’s a communications room then?”

“Wait, have you ever joined a party in this place?”

“Joined a party?”

“Hah,” Elmira chuckled and shook her head. “Seriously? Don’t tell me…”

Aaron stared back. He was starting to get a little frustrated by all of this.

“You really don’t know, do you? Fine, let me show you.”

Elmira has invited you to join her party.

Accept: Y/N?

“Huh,” this was new, Aaron thought as he glanced between the prompt and Elmira.

He supposed there was no harm in accepting it. It looked like a standard System prompt, and he assumed he could leave it just as easily if he wanted to. And so, he accepted.

Suddenly, Elmira’s name appeared in the corner of his vision with what looked suspiciously like a little health bar beneath it.

What’s all this then?

She obviously noticed Aaron’s inquisitive look and his pupils darting up to the new sections on his System interface.

“You have never been to a party before, have you?”

“No… this is… all very, very new to me. So, what, this is so we can keep tabs on each other? Is that all it is?”

“No. It’s more than that. And you make that sound like it isn’t very useful. This is how we defeated the Tutorial boss and got as far as we have. You have no idea how much more you can achieve working with others. Maybe Cairon didn’t look like much to you when he dueled Voidrin, but you should see him fight when I’m backing him up.”

She posed an interesting thought. Aaron had been and was a solo act, and quite frankly, he had no desire to change that. But if there were systems in place that could coordinate others and help them work together, then that was certainly something he had to be aware of.

But as interesting as all that was, there was still a question he had unanswered.

“And so what does this have to do with this communications room?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Elmira smiled. “Put your hand down on the trial dial and tell me what you see.”

“Oh?”

Nodding, Aaron turned and placed his hand down on the dial, and immediately, his eyes widened.

A new trial??!

Trial of Companionship? What the hell is this

, he wondered.

How was this possible? An entire trial he had no idea about, hiding beneath his nose this entire time?

“That look on your face is priceless. You know, there’s a rumor amongst my group that you’ve been in here from the very start. Have you really never seen that?”

Slowly, Aaron nodded.

“Hilarious. Well, like I said, I need to unlock it myself. So, what do you think, wanna clear it with me? I was going to do it with Cairon, but he can find somebody else.”

Aaron turned to the smiling face of Elmira.

Okay, he hadn’t seen this coming. He hesitated for a moment. It was weird that Elmira was coming on so strongly. He had never spoken to her before, and now she was asking him to do a trial together. With how gung-ho Pentival was about recruiting people, he doubted this was her own idea.

“I think I’ll try it with Mo’han first, but maybe later,” he said.

He had probably been a bit reckless earlier, showing off so much in front of Pentival. Even if it might not matter all that much, he still would rather not enter an unknown trial with someone he couldn’t trust.

“You think I’m just here on Pentival’s orders, right?” asked Elmira.

“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Maybe.”

Smooth

, he thought sarcastically.

“Well, I am,” she said. “But I’m also here personally. I’m curious about you. As I said, I work for Pentival because he’s competent, not because I’m a devoted, loyal servant. He wants to learn more about you, yes, but don’t you want more information about us? You’ll see my abilities firsthand, and I’d be more than happy to answer some of your questions. Of course, I’ll report back to Pentival what I see from you, but I think it’s a fair trade. Information about you for information about us. What do you say?”

The logical part of him said to wait, and do the trial with either Mo’han or Talia, but… this could be an opportunity. He didn’t trust Pentival at all, but he was curious what Elmira saw in him. Suppose she saw anything at all. There was still a chance she was just acting, but he wouldn’t know if he didn’t spend more time with her. Besides, it wasn’t like he could die here.

“Yeah, okay, let’s do it.”