A Troubled Reunion

It was the crack of dawn when Celia entered the cave where Shade and Arora were resting. Alongside her were two unknown players. One was a female around the age of 20 with long silky black hair, bright golden eyes, and a slender figure. The other was a male around the same age with black hair and scarlet red eyes.

"Celia!" Exclaimed Arora happily as she greeted her with a hug. "You made it... I'm so glad..!"

"Yeah, I did... I'm glad you and Shade are okay too..."

"How did you even know where to find us?"

"Well, there was an area that was severely damaged not too far from here. Seemed like a fight took place there so we just traced the remaining tracks here."

Arora then glanced at the other two players who were with Celia. They both gave a slight wave as they greeted her. It was slightly evident that they were a little nervous.

"Who are these two..?" Asked Arora.

"Oh, right... These two will be the newest additions to Team Shadow Liege... I was hoping to get Shade's approval before I made it official though..."

The female player then stepped forward as she greeted Arora respectfully.

"Hi, my name's Maria. My friend over here is called Rondo. It's really nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Maria and Rondo. I hope we can all work together in the upcoming stages."

Celia then interrupted them as she stepped forward. Arora however noticed that her face was voided of its usual jovial smile. She could tell that something had happened.

"So, where's Shade?" Asked Celia.

"He's at the back resting. Did you get the antidote..?"

"Yes, Rondo and Maria have it. I was hoping that Shade would permit them to join us if they managed to heal him."

"Okay, I hope this works... Follow me..."

A second later, they all stood above Shade who was seemingly fast asleep. They however noticed that his face was bathed with sweat and his breathing was a little unsteady. It was quite evident that the poison was eating away at his health.

"Yeah, this is definitely the Crippling Poison..." Stated Rondo as he inspected Shade.

"Crippling Poison? What's that?" Asked Arora.

"It's a poison that comes from a special monster called the Winged Snake from that weird forest just before you get to the town of Aíma Malliá. Thankfully, we also managed to create the antidote from that monster's blood. All you have to do is combine its blood with the Crippling Poison itself and the antidote forms."

Arora was now a little confused. She couldn't comprehend how Rondo knew so much about the poison and its antidote. It was a little suspicious.

"How do you know all of this information?"

"Well, long story short, our ex-team captain was the one who discovered the poison in the first place."

Rondo then stooped beside Shade before getting the antidote in hand. He then attempted to use it on Shade but this was when he was stopped.

"Will the antidote take effect immediately?" Suddenly asked Shade, opening his eyes.

"Shade, you're awake!" Exclaimed Arora.

"I was awake the entire time... I just decided not to say anything so I could observe these two. I needed to decide whether or not they were trustworthy."

"I see... Well, to answer your question then; yes, the antidote takes effect immediately. Once you take it, you'll be back to full strength," replied Maria.

"Fine then. Cure my poisoning."

Rondo then did as Shade instructed. Shade quickly swallowed the antidote which tasted extremely sour. It was not something he wished to ever taste again.

Fortunately, his poisoning immediately disappeared before his strength returned to him. His body felt as good as new.

"Wow... I feel better already..!" He exclaimed as he picked himself up.

"Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried!" Said Arora with a breath of relief.

Shade felt much better. There was not even a hint of the poison left within him. This meant that Rondo and Maria had been telling the truth.

"So, does this mean that they can join us..?" Quickly asked Celia.

"No, at least not yet. I appreciate that they were able to heal me but there are still a few things that don't add up. Until they've answered all my questions then they won't become part of our team."

"Okay, understood..."

Shade then picked himself up out of his sleeping bag. It felt amazing being able to walk without feeling as if he was about to collapse. He could still hardly believe how much better the antidote had made him feel.

"So, Rondo and Maria, was it? You said the poison was from a special monster. This means that not just anyone is supposed to have access to it. I need you to explain why those players who attacked us had the same poison as you do. I don't believe it's a coincidence that we managed to meet two different sets of players with special poison."

Rondo and Maria then exchanged a dim look between themselves. It seemed that the topic that they were about to go into wasn't one they would enjoy.

"As I mentioned earlier, our ex-team captain was the one who first found the poison. We were a team comprised of four. However, just like you, we were ambushed by those players. They managed to kill our captain and got their hands on some of the poison that he was carrying," explained Rondo.

Shade pondered for a short moment. He remembered that Lax had mentioned something about killing a player from another team who was carrying the poison. Did this mean that the team they had attacked was the team that Rondo and Maria had been a part of?

"I see... It makes sense. But you said there were four of you. You and Maria inclusive of your ex-team captain make three. Where's your fourth?"

"He died too..." Began Maria. "But unlike our team captain, he wasn't killed by those other players. He was killed by this massive bear..! Rondo and I barely managed to escape only because it decided to remain behind and eat his corpse..."

"You mean that massive white bear called the White Claw?" Interjected Arora. "Shade and I were attacked by it too! We almost died... Even now I'm still unsure how we managed to escape."

A moment of silence then pressed against their ears. It was now obvious that this field boss was terrorizing players. It was very powerful and had already killed many people. They needed to be careful.

"That aside for now, how did you all meet?" Queried Shade.

"Well-"

"I don't want to hear it from you, Maria. I want to hear it from Celia herself."

Celia then looked up at Shade with a regretful expression. It was not a topic she wished to venture into but she knew she had no choice but to explain since Shade was the one that asked.

"I only asked you because I realized two things, Celia; One, Tristan isn't with you, and two, you've been in a bad mood this entire time. I need an explanation."

"...Fine..." She began sadly. "After you and Arora were knocked off the cliff, that field boss came after us. We tried running but realized it was just too fast to outrun. So, I decided to fight it by myself while begging Tristan to leave it to me..."

Celia then doubled her fists and clenched her teeth in frustration. It was apparent that she was feeling responsible for what happened next.

"But Tristan didn't listen... Instead of running, he saved my life from the field boss's special attack... But a second later, it sliced him in half!"

Arora could hardly believe her ears. The field boss had also killed Tristan. She felt extremely saddened to hear this but she knew that Celia probably felt even worse. Celia was blaming herself for failing to protect him given that he was the only Locator on their team. Without him, they would have a hard time finding their way around.

"Celia, don't blame yourself for this! It isn't your fault! That monster was too much for you to handle alone!" Comforted Arora.

"But Shade, what do we do now..? I'm sorry that I couldn't protect Tristan... This is all my fault..." Whimpered Celia.

"Just shut up," suddenly cursed Shade. "I couldn't care less if you believe this is your fault or not. Tristan died and that's all there is to it. Crying about it won't bring him back. You can't protect everyone so whenever someone dies, it's dumb to blame yourself for it."

Celia knew that Shade was right. It made no sense to blame herself over Tristan's death. It was sad that they had lost someone so valuable to their team but nothing could be done about it. They just had to move on.

Shade then moved over to Rondo and Maria to finish asking them his final questions.

"So, let me guess... You saw that Celia was about to be killed by the field boss but you somehow managed to save her. Am I right?"

"Yes... We decided that we needed to join a new team since our team had been destroyed. So when we saw Celia, we decided to save her. We had a few smoke bombs on us which we used to escape afterward. It was done out of desperation but we needed new teammates..." Explained Maria.

"I see. So final question then; What are your Class Abilities?"

"Rondo's CA is an Archer so he fights with a bow. Mine is an Attack Mage."

Shade was satisfied with this. Though they were now missing a Locator, they had a strong offensive team. This would make tough battles a lot easier.

"Good. We can consider this a replacement for Tristan then."

Shade then proceeded to exit the cave while signaling the others to follow him. He was pleased with how things had turned out.

"Rondo, Maria, you can join our team. It seems you'll be useful."

"So, I take it that we're going to the next town now?" Asked Arora.

Shade then stopped before giving his response. He was sure none of them would like it but he didn't care.

"I consider myself a very spiteful person. I have a bone to pick with that field boss."