A Decision

Everyone went silent with a feeling of unsettling anticipation. Shade's sword was pressed dangerously against the healer's neck. He was not in a joyous mood. Despite having his life saved by Team Merit, Shade couldn't find himself trusting them so easily.

"Let's not resort to this, Shade..! I assure you that you can trust us!" Persuaded Anwir.

"You talk about trust so easily when you just tried to deceive me. Remember, you're the one who lied about wanting to simply help us. I don't like guys who try to act nicer than they really are. You all irritate me."

Following this, the rest of Team Merit got their weapons in hand. They were ready to engage in combat if necessary.

"Take it easy, everyone! We don't need to escalate this. Remember, we are trying to persuade Shade to join us!" Explained Anwir.

"Tsk!" Hissed the archery girl. "Who takes someone who saved their life hostage?!"

"This only happened because I lied to him. I'll deal with this!"

Anwir then slowly stepped forward with his hands above his head. One wrong move and his healer would be dead.

"Shade, listen... If we truly wanted to, we could do the same as you and kill your friends over there. However, we're abstaining from that because we don't want any trouble. I'm trying to build the most powerful team that can beat this game!"

"Even if you were to take my group members as hostages, I wouldn't care. According to you, they were holding me back, correct? Why should I get desperate over a mere two players who've been holding me back? However, on the contrary, the girl I've taken hostage means a lot to you, doesn't she? You're picky about who joins your team which means each of them is special to you. Losing her would be a big hit to you, wouldn't it?"

Anwir paused as he gritted his teeth. He could hardly believe how thorough Shade was.

"I know you're cautious due to the lie I told. However, I apologize for that. I wanted to look good which was silly of me."

"That's not the only reason, Anwir. I've been observing your team so far. Every one of you has decent gear even though the game just started. Over the past two days, my team and I have been slaying countless monsters to raise money. And even then, all I could afford was a bronze sword. Something is off about your team."

"That's because we have a Locator on our team."

"A Locator?"

"Yes, assuming you know about the Class Abilities, you should know what I'm talking about."

Anwir then snapped his fingers before a short 15-year-old girl with dark blue hair and scarlet-colored eyes stepped forward.

Shade had known that there were five members within Team Merit. However, one of them had been staying a good distance away from the battle the entire time. This had to mean that she wasn't combat-oriented.

"This is Anna," continued Anwir. "She's my teams' Locator. She had helped us find a hidden treasure box with a few gold coins back in the first town. That's how we could afford the equipment we now have."

Shade continued to observe. It was all starting to make a little more sense now. However, he still wanted to play it cautiously. There was no way for him to tell if Anwir was adding more lies to his story or not.

"Fine then. I'll believe you for now. However, I'll only release your healer go on one condition," proposed Shade.

"And what would that be?" Queried Anwir.

"You take your stuff and leave my group and me alone. I don't trust you so I deem it a bit risky for me to join your team. In other words, I refuse."

Anwir then looked up at Xavier with a troubled look across his face. Shade's proposal would not work.

"I'm sorry, Shade..." Began Xavier as he stepped forward. "...But we saved your life and even revealed information about our team to you. So it's either you join us or you die. You'll be too much of a threat to us later on if we allow you to live."

Arora and Tristan immediately became frightened by this. The situation was not going to end well at the rate it was going. They needed to do something and fast.

"Wait..!" Suddenly exclaimed Arora. "Is it possible for all of us to join your team?"

"I'm sorry but we're not interested in garbage," answered Anwir rudely. "Shade's the only one who could be of use to us out of you three. We already have a Locator so golden boy would also be useless to us as well."

"So if Shade joins you, are you going to kill me and Tristan..?"

"Well, I'll be considerate. If Shade joins us then none of you have to die."

Tristan clenched his teeth as he pondered. No matter how this went down, it would still be bad for him and Arora. Arora was still inexperienced in combat so having her as a guard in a massive forest filled with monsters would not be the best. They needed to keep Shade on their side while preventing any more conflicts from breaking out at the same time.

"I have one last proposal then!" Exclaimed Tristan. "Let us have a 1 on 1 duel!"

"A duel..?" Mumbled Xavier.

"Yes! Shade from our team up against any member from your team. If you win, you can have Shade on your team. However, if we win, Shade stays on our team and you leave us alone."

Anwir and Tristan then exchanged glances before responding. It was a good proposal to avoid bloodshed and further problems but it wasn't quite enough for them.

"If we're going to go ahead with such a proposal then I think we deserve to add some conditions," added Xavier.

"What kind of conditions..?"

"If Shade manages to win the duel then he still has to owe a debt to us. What we require of him is that he and his group never go up against us on a Stage. Instead, if it comes down to it, Shade must at least join our team to help us win a stage if we request it."

Tristan sighed. Given the current circumstances, things could be much worse. Though he didn't like their condition, it was best if he accepted it. The only problem was getting Shade to agree to everything said.

"So a kind of pact then? Fine, we'll do that. Shade, what do you think?"

"I don't mind. I'll take part in the duel if it means I can get out of here without any major problems," he replied as he released his hostage.

The healer then hurriedly ran back to Anwir's side in fear of her life. It was now time for them to choose who would represent Team Merit in the duel.

"I'll take him!" Proclaimed Xavier as he stepped forward.

Shade then looked up at Xavier with an unamused expression across his face. His opponent was someone twice his size.