Free Web NovelChapter 21: The Fifth Member: First Party!
--Chapter 21--
Title>> The Fifth Member: First Party!
’Master? Really?’
’Holy god of glazing...’
’Was this kid for real?’
The words caught in Xavier’s throat.
Between the fact that this boy was kneeling right in front of him and the wide puppy-like eyes on Priya now.
Xavier knew very well that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The boy’s logic was sound. It was actually more sound than Xavier wanted to admit.
Forming a party for an expedition, quest, or dungeon challenge was something that the system of Arillion smiled upon.
The drops got better, they got coordination boosts and increased critical chances. The more the merrier.
But above all of that. You get companions. Whether they were truly trustworthy or not.
You could at least bank on the fact they had the same goals as you. And if they were trustworthy. That’s how you got guilds.
Come to think of it.... Even him, The Legendary Hunter X... he was never alone.
He always had Grace whispering in his ears even though the cameras never caught her.
And then he had Marco, who took care of everything else that a tired elder brother would miss.
Those two were his party, his guild, and he would always be grateful for them.
Letting out a deep sigh... he looked at Timothee again, but this time with sterner eyes.
"I’m not a healer."
"I don’t care."
"I have no class skills."
"I don’t care."
Xavier shook his head slowly.
"You know, I’m not carrying your party through a dungeon just because you’re a fan."
Timothee stayed exactly where he was, looking up at Xavier with a grin.
"I am not asking you to carry us. Only to be our fifth... Master."
"My one..." Priya whispered.
It was so inaudible that everyone missed it since her face was still facing downwards.
"What did you say?" Xavier’s eyes darted to her.
"Um... Nothing!" the girl murmured.
Still on one knee, Timothee slowly began bringing his other knee down, believing it was now or never for his dream to play with his hero.
Barely halfway, Xavier held him in place.
"That’s enough...!"
"So... that’s a yes?" Timothee almost leaped up with a broad smile still on his face.
Xavier nodded slowly.
"Yes..."
Timothee’s grin immediately widened. Threatening to split his face in two.
"I have a condition," Xavier intentionally stopped their joy train, or he thought he did.
"Anything..!" Timothee straightened and got back on his feet.
"Nobody announces I’m here. No chat callouts or flaunts."
Xavier continued after a short pause, turning to Priya.
"No tags. No guess-who-we-just-recruited bullshit posts."
"Done!" Timothee replied immediately like an answering machine.
But Xavier ignored the enthusiasm, or at least tried to.
"When this is over, you tell people you cleared it with a pickup group. Understood?"
"Y-es."
"Yes."
Both Priya and Timothee answered together.
Accepting their party didn’t mean trusting them.
It only meant their goals happened to align... for now.
Xavier chuckled without saying a word.
’These two are crazy,’ he thought.
The exchange was barely over when Timothee started gesturing toward the street.
"The others are waiting for us at the village gates."
"Alright..." Xavier said as the dagger in his hand disappeared into motes of white light and back.
All three began making their way to the gate but the party leader, Timothee, still didn’t stop talking.
"You know my team is the best. We have Dex and Juo."
Timothee continued... "You know Dex is our Archer, Juo is our mage. They’re—"
"Loud," Priya said quietly. She was still tugging at something under her skirt.
"Dex is the loud one," Timothee corrected. "Juo’s actually pretty quiet. She couldn’t hurt a fly."
Couldn’t hurt a fly...
Xavier couldn’t remember how many fucking times he’d heard that particular phrase and how untrue it had turned out each time.
It was just one of those things. The person in question was either an angel, as they described them to be.
Or the Devil himself.
Either way, he would have to find out for himself.
"Let’s go!"
***
They arrived at the gates and Xavier immediately had to admit that Priya had been spot on.
Dex was indeed loud...
"Holy shit. Holy shit. You actually got him. You actually got Hunter X."
Dex, or as his status screen revealed him, Dexter, was a young wiry man, circling around Xavier as he spoke.
His eyes followed Xavier like he was inspecting an antique, whistling and smiling like an idiot.
Finally getting a grip on himself and the bow that hung over his shoulder.
Dex stayed quiet for a second before he began blurting again.
"This is insane. This is actually insane. I saw the announcement, right? World-first Bloodline. Forty-seven minutes. I said to myself," he paused, placing a finger on his chin.
"I said, Dex, that guy is either cheating or he’s the best player alive, and I was right on both counts except the cheating part. You’re obviously not cheating. I mean, you’re Hunter X. You don’t need to cheat. You’re the cheat."
"Dex!!!" Timothee called out, his voice weary and exhausted.
"Right, right. Shutting up. I’m shutting up. It’s just..." He gestured vaguely at Xavier again. "It’s Hunter X, broooo."
Seeing Timothee look visibly exhausted by Dex was quite funny for Xavier since they were both fan-boys.
Only a minute ago, Timothee was just like Dex.
Taking in all the praise, Xavier didn’t necessarily feel like he disagreed with them...
He was pretty damn awesome...
Right next to Dex was the last member of the party. And the one person that wasn’t sucking his d#ck.
Yet...
"Nice to meet you, Mr X," the shorter girl smiled. "I am Juo."
"Nice to meet you, Juo," Xavier responded, reciprocating the wave the woman gave him.
With a soft and almost shy voice, she continued. Her eyes looking over his head. Possibly at his status screen.
"I’ve never run a dungeon with a world-first player before."
"Neither have I," Xavier said. "I’ve always been the world-first player."
"Hahaha," Juo laughed at the joke, but Dex laughed even louder.
Xavier shrugged casually, his eyes darting to Priya, who had a weird glow to her freckled face.
She’d just returned from visiting a restroom, saying she needed to adjust something in her gear.
Xavier could only wonder what that was...
"Alright... since Priya is back. Let’s go?"
"Wait!"
Timothee suddenly objected.
"You have to accept my party invite."
’Invite? Would that work?’ Xavier mused.
"Don’t wor–"
Ding!
The notification appeared in Xavier’s vision.
His eyes widened in surprise... how was this working?
[Player Timothee has requested you join his party]
[Accept / Decline]
Xavier couldn’t wrap his head around how this was happening when everything else, like direct messages, wasn’t possible.
But just to be sure it was actually happening, he tapped.
[Accept]
The next second, an interface flicked into his vision, displaying five health bars, five mana bars, and five player names.
His own bar sat at the top, his Level 7 slapped on the side while the others clustered beneath him.
"Wow... it’s really happening," Xavier said inwardly.
This latest development was one of the best things he could ask for because with this...
He could finally change his financial status and participate fully in the drops that would come with it.
The smile on his face didn’t last long because he finally found the condition tied to this.
It was just under the party interface.
[Irregular Status: Party functions temporarily restored.]
[Note: Invite-only access. You may not initiate party functions.]
[Duration of inclusion: 11:59:30]
’Fucking diabolical...’ Xavier cursed.
Everything about him at this point was on a clock.
There was the countdown to the World Event: Sufferer’s Rage.
And now this....
’Does this irregular thing even have any good sides?’
For now... there was absolutely none!
Xavier sighed, dispelled the menu, and raised his head to the party of four.
Watching them geared up, laughing and joking.
That right there was the only bright side to all of this.
At least for this short amount of time...
...he was no longer alone.
--End of Chapter--
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