Sheko and the other masters had started walking but paused when they noticed Mai still standing in the doorway.

  “What’s the holdup?” Sheko asked, turning toward her. His voice was patient.

  “Aren’t we waiting for Nue and Emilia to join us?” Mai asked.

  Emilia, standing behind Mai, spoke up. “I don’t think I’ll join you. There are kids around, which means no alcohol, and I’m not very fond of chummy get-togethers. Don’t worry about me. I’ll have a great story to tell the other mercenaries at the pub now that I can finally get away from that dusty archive you basically forced me into.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Mai said, rubbing the back of her head. “Alright, but what about Nue? She won’t come either?”

  “I haven’t spoken with her, but I don’t think she’d mind too much,” Emilia replied.

  “See? It’s not a problem,” Sheko said. “It’d be nice to have her, but I don’t see why you care so much. She’s just an NPC, after all. This is a party for us to relax. What would an NPC even do while we talk about real-life stuff? She’d just get lost.”

  “Sheko, this isn’t nice,” Mai said, her tone sharp. “You’re just cutting her out. She saved your ass—you owe her that much. You’re being a bully right now. How is she different from any other raid member?”

  The others stood in silence, not picking a side. Mai’s accusation was a deep cut, though she probably didn’t realize how much it hurt Sheko. To her credit, he had learned to hide his emotions over the years. They might simmer beneath the surface, but she likely couldn’t tell.

  “Fine, I’m sorry,” Sheko said after a moment. “You’re right. Even if I didn’t owe her for saving me from that attack, I shouldn’t have said she shouldn’t come. Where is she, though? We’re cutting it close, right?” He turned to Finn.

  “I’m the organizer for the party, so don’t worry,” Finn said. “I’m sure some of the others are even grateful we’re running a bit late so they can take care of things while we’re gone. But yeah, if she wants to join, she should get here soon. Let’s give her, like, five minutes.”

  Mai turned back to Emilia. “Do you know where she is?”

  “Well, she said she had training to do,” Emilia replied. “I approve. She has a lot of room to grow, and even if the raid was a bit too dangerous, it was a wake-up call she needed. We both did.”

  Emilia’s gaze grew distant for a moment before she spoke again. “Take a look at these.” She held up her wrists, showing a pair of leather cuffs studded with a ruby and a sapphire. “These are telepathy cuffs. They allow you to contact your friend’s corresponding pair within a limited range. The quality and size of the gems determine their grade. Anyway, she got my message. She says she’s about ten minutes away from The Silly Daredevil. You can meet her there. Have fun.”

  The group walked along, making small talk as they did.

  “What do you think Emilia meant with the whole ‘wake-up call’ thing she was talking about?” Mai asked, breaking the silence.

  “Well, I think it’s obvious,” Finn replied. “Even the most veteran master has only been adventuring for a year and a half. Emilia’s no slouch, but I think that’s part of what’s making her so worried. Prismo has outshined her in her area of expertise—and not by a small margin either—even though she’s probably a decade more experienced and over 100 levels higher than him.

  "Even if she fully understood how Prismo did so much damage, it wouldn’t matter. She couldn’t have accomplished the same feat, even with the kind of support I gave Prismo.”

  “I see,” Mai said, nodding slowly. “Yeah, that’s kind of depressing to think about. She told us she hit her limit already at level 450. What can she even do to improve? Oh, and run me through how you made Prismo deal so much damage.”

  Finn smiled slightly. “Well, I do like explaining my embryo—it’s a really fun subject. Embryos in general, I mean. You know how each embryo has a name based on some Earth-based myth?”

  Sheko interrupted, “Yeah, they’re pretty fitting, but it’s weird. It feels like we’re outsiders in this world, bringing items and monsters with names from Earth.”

  “Yes, yes, but please don’t interrupt me again,” Finn said, clearly wanting to stay on topic. “We can talk about that stylistic choice later. So, each embryo has a name, and their abilities are somewhat based on that myth. And before you ask—yes, embryos can share the same myth, but their full names are always unique.

  “Where the myth name seems most important is when the embryo reaches rank 4. That’s the earliest point a normal embryo can develop an ultimate skill. That skill closely relates to the myth and is typically some kind of trump card that drastically alters how you use your embryo.

  “My embryo is Loki, the Weaver of Lies. When Loki evolved to its 4th form, it developed the ability Killer of Truth. It lets me pay MP to redirect phenomena to someone else I’m connected to via its Web of Lies ability. I knew Prismo had a big attack skill with a cooldown, so I worked with him to make it so everyone else in the raid received the cooldown instead of him.”

  “That was a very thorough and yet still confusing explanation,” Mai said, quickly summarizing. “So, to simplify, you basically cheated the system by making the game think someone else used Prismo’s ability, so he didn’t go on cooldown?”

  “Well, if you understood it, then it wasn’t that confusing, right?” Finn replied apologetically.

  Realizing Finn seemed bothered, Mai quickly added, “No, you’re right. The explanation was fine. Maybe just explain your ability separately from the whole thing about rank 4 embryos.”

  Finn nodded and started again. “The official name people are using now is high rank for embryos at ranks 4 through 6—kind of like how jobs are categorized into low rank and high rank. Rank 6 is the highest we know of. But with the new development of players being able to get superior jobs, I think there might be a rank beyond 6.”

  “Yeah, I heard that,” Sheko said, jumping in. “Actually, just by chance, I met someone called Nate when I respawned. He said he’s a duel ranker. I assume that’s impressive?”

  "Somewhat. He probably told you how Gideon is better, right?" Jake jumped in to answer. "I saw him fight his rank match against the previous Rank 8. It was completely one-sided—embarrassingly so. Nate went straight for his ultimate, transforming into a living whirlpool and crushing his opponent."

  "Ha, cool," Sheko replied succinctly. Then, steering the conversation back, he asked, "Well, back to the start of the conversation—what could Emilia even do to compete with masters? She told us raids are a serious deal. I don't think this raid was actually that hard, all things considered.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "We beat it with a group of barely prepared and under-leveled players. The challenge level of the game would have to grow to accommodate higher-level master. Do you think NPCs will just become useless at higher levels?"

  "Hard to tell," Finn replied honestly. "I honestly hope not. Tians are such an integral part of the game—both as quest givers and allies—that I don't think the devs would let them become useless. But I also have no clue how they’re going to prevent that when embryos are so powerful. Maybe there’ll be a game-wide embryo nerf?"

  "Sounds like a recipe for disaster if you ask me," Sheko shot back. "Can you imagine the community actually accepting that?"

  "Well, there is another way to improve NPCs..." Jake trailed off before adding, "Actually, let’s wait on that. Stein would be able to explain it a little better."

  Finally, the party of masters arrived at The Silly Daredevil, fashionably late. They walked through the door of a small hut at the edge of the food district, only to find that the interior revealed a space much larger than what the hut’s exterior could possibly accommodate.

  "Cool! A space-compressed restaurant!" Mai exclaimed.

  Sheko followed her, awe in his voice. "How common is that? This is Legendria, nation of magic, after all."

  A broad-shouldered, red-skinned, Tiefling-looking bartender spoke from behind the bar. "Always fun to have newcomers impressed by my little abode. And no, buildings like this one are very rare in Dendro. Space manipulation is something pretty uncommon."

  "Sheko, Mai, meet Chris," Finn said, introducing the man. "He’s the proud owner of The Silly Daredevil and the first player restaurant owner in Legendria."

  As if on cue, steam carrying tantalizing smells wafted from the kitchen behind Chris.

  The other raid members had already settled at six round tables, some biting into appetizers made with special ingredients exclusive to Dendro. Some ingredients were simple, like blue tomatoes, while others were completely alien—what Sheko assumed were huge steamed insects. It seemed most players shared his opinion that the latter was too weird to try.

  Fortunately for Sheko, there were also simpler dishes he could eat to fill up.

  The raid members turned toward the doorway to greet the incoming group. Jake and Finn joined their respective party members, while Sheko sat at an empty table. He was surprised when Mai chose a different table to talk with others.

  Why did I sit down here? I thought this was like a wedding, where the tables are set in groups. That was stupid. Well, where’s Stein? At least Jake said he had something interesting to share, Sheko thought, glancing around.

  He quickly spotted Stein in his cloak and realized that Mai had sat at the same table. Now I look desperate for company. Well, it’s not like I actually have much else to do here.

  As Sheko was about to stand and walk over to Stein’s table, someone sat down across from him. Sheko didn’t recognize them at all, but they quickly broke the silence, offering a handshake.

  "Yusa, from the Wiki Editors clan, Legendaria branch—obviously. I wanted to ask about your embryo. It’s something we do as we try to map out the game. You don’t have to answer any questions, but you’ll get a 10% discount on your meal if you do," Yusa said.

  Finn, overhearing the mention of a discount, chimed in from his table. "Don’t worry about it, Sheko. It’s already been paid for. Pay me back later. Believe me, covering for a party is much cheaper than paying per meal."

  Well, I don’t know. This place looks fancy. What if there’s nothing I actually like to eat here? Sheko shrugged off the thought and turned his attention back to Yusa.

  Just then, dishes began streaming out of the kitchen, carried by a squadron of jade statues that reminded Sheko of old plastic army man toys.

  "Oh, I think I remember you now," Sheko said to Yusa. "You were the guy controlling the jade soldiers. Do you work here?"

  "Yes, most people recognize me by my embryo. I sometimes help here. The Silly Daredevil doubles as our clan base now. Can we refocus?" Yusa replied.

  "I don’t know... Giving all the details about my embryo feels kind of wrong. I like saving it as a surprise for anyone who wants to pick a fight with me," Sheko admitted.

  "You mean like how you requested a duel with Phantasm?"

  "Wow, they didn’t waste a second spilling the beans," Sheko said, shaking his head.

  "Well, it’s probably going to be entertaining. Seriously, no one likes Phantasm. I actually have a theory about him and his embryo, but it’s against clan policy to speculate on stuff like that. Let’s make a deal—I’ll share what I know on a few subjects and let you know when I think I’ve shared enough. In exchange, you answer some questions first," Yusa offered.

  "Okay, fine. Let’s begin," Sheko agreed.

  "First question—when did your embryo awaken, and how?"

  "Somewhat of a two-for-one question," Sheko replied. "Honestly, it’s been, like, what... three or four days ago in real-world time? I grinded with someone for a few hours, then returned to town to meet his friends. I remember it pretty well because they apparently kidnapped someone, and I ended up freeing them.

  "Their leader, a centaur with a mechanical lower half, tried to stomp my head. My embryo awakened and made him miss, but he immediately attacked again and killed me."

  "Ah, that’s actually interesting. You’re a triggered awakening," Yusa noted.

  "What does that mean?" Sheko asked.

  "Not too much," Yusa explained. "But there’s a higher chance of getting special-type embryos when it happens, from what we’ve seen so far."

  "Well, mine is a territory-arms hybrid, but I assume you’re talking about something like Maiden or Angel types?"

  "Yes. Didn’t realize you’re well-read. Let’s jump ahead to my next question—do you think you had a counter awakening?"

  "I’ve had time to read, and I like theory crafting," Sheko admitted. "Anyway, no, I’m almost sure I didn’t. From what I understand, the concept of counter awakening means your embryo is made to counter someone else’s. But I didn’t even know what the centaur guy’s embryo was. Even now, the best I’ve got is that it’s some kind of control over the four elements. My embryo isn’t a very good match-up for that."

  "Well, that’s rough. But what does your embryo do? Maybe you’re missing something," Yusa suggested.

  "I don’t know about that. But anyway, it’s my turn for some questions," Sheko said, shifting the focus back. "Jake told me Stein knows about some way to power up Tians or at least offset the broken balance embryos cause."

  "Okay, that’s pretty vague, but I think he was talking about UBM rewards," Yusa replied. "Actually, that makes some sense—as a way to balance masters and Tians. Like with superior jobs, our alliance has already gathered some info about UBMs and UBM reward holders, both Tians and masters."

  It’s like he’s dangling bait in front of me, Sheko thought.

  "I remember Emilia mentioning UBMs along with raid bosses, mostly to explain how different they are," Sheko said.

  "Well, she’s right," Yusa continued. "UBMs are unique event monsters the devs release every so often. This fits with what Tians told us—that there’s been an uptick in UBMs ever since masters started appearing in droves.

  "Anyway, UBMs come in four tiers: Epic, Legendary, Ancient Legendary, and Mythical. They’re incredibly tricky to defeat. A lot of them have abilities similar to embryos. People usually like to keep it a secret if they own a UBM reward. Stein’s a bit of an exception in that regard.

  "Epics are hard to beat, but with good compatibility or a well-prepared group, they can be defeated. I think that’s a big part of why Stein advertises his UBM reward so much. According to him, he beat his solo. The coat he got from it gives him inhaled poison immunity and lets him generate most gases passively..." Yusa paused, glancing toward Stein’s table before adding aloud, "Which is just a little bit rude to do when there’s good food going around."

  Stein immediately replied, clearly annoyed, "You could just ask. I didn’t realize it was bothering anyone."

  Yusa turned back to continue his explanation about UBMs, but the door suddenly opened, drawing everyone's attention. A familiar figure stood in the doorway. Kaizo.

  Though he wasn’t in his centaur form at the moment, Sheko recognized him instantly. Any lingering doubt disappeared as the rest of Kaizo’s group—including GesStar and his sister—entered the room. Tsuno commented on the size of the building as they walked in.

  Yusa started speaking again but stopped when he realized Sheko wasn’t listening. Sheko’s eyes were on Finn, who had stood up to greet GesStar and welcome the group to the party, joking about their tardiness.