Chapter 72: Marius’s Dilemma, A Forced Party

The commotion at the Seeker's Union had faded, and by now, most had gone off to their missions. After being fully initiated by Torn and a few Union Seniors as an official Seeker, Marius now roamed the building's main hall to complete his initiation duty, taking in the rowdy atmosphere. 

Large-bodied men and beast-like men sat around sturdy wooden chairs as they chatted and laughed, while well-shaped women of all sizes sat nearby, their giggles adding a bit of flair to the air.

A few others also had conflicts with others as they threw their fists about, but as if no one cared about such a scene, they treated it as normal and only placed bet's on the side.

Marius found it enjoyable; in his previous work line, he didn't spend too much time in such an open and above-board setting, always dwelling in darkness. After retiring, he had to work in a nine-to-five office job that had taken its toll on him even more due to their strict requirements and oppressive systems.

Marius felt constrained doing such things, but right now, he felt that living life in such a setting wouldn't be too bad; at least, he wouldn't have to hide or suppress this true nature.

'A life on the edge is the only life worth living...'

Marius thought as he licked his lips slightly, his eyes shining with a slightly baleful gleam that no one in the area seemed to notice.

Marius was lost in his world; he didn't even notice that ever so quirky Leya was tailing him; she gave him an odd stare while thinking to herself.

'Such an oddball, this uncle is way too strange, but... he's the best partner to team up with...'

Leya thought to herself as, despite her feelings of misgivings, her eyes still shone with a hint of determination. She was about to walk directly up towards him, but before that could happen, there was a change.

"Hey, you're Leya Paltine, correct?" A snobbish voice said from the side.

Leya knitted her brows at this as she turned her attention to the side, there she noticed that a fat man with half-shaved brown hair that wore luxury clothing was staring at her as he stood at the center of a group of men and women. They each had a confident air about them, each wearing high-class armor and equipment as they looked at her with a smile.

Leya frowned as she answered, "Yes, and you are?"

The fat man with half-shaved brown hair smirked as he puffed out his chest and replied, "I've heard a few whispers amongst the upper grapevine, but only after coming here today did I saw that it was true. You, the sole daughter of the Union Chief heading out to the field, are worthy of commemoration. My name is Jack Lawrence, please, do me the honor of joining my party."

When Jack spoke, his face became filled with even more confidence as he felt that after such a lengthy speech, along with his family name's statement, no one would reject him. In fact, even his comrades thought the same, as they already stared at Leya with expectation.

Leya, however, didn't even think twice or continue to spare them a glance as she spoke, "Not interested."

With her icy voice leaving a chill in the air, her petite figure waltz away without even looking back at the dumbfounded looks on their faces; even Jack had his mouth opened wide.

"What the heck just happened?" Jack cursed as he looked at his cronies.

"This... squad leader, it's odd, I heard that she had quite the attitude and had even rejected quite a few others already, but I didn't think she would deny even us." A female said.

Jack frowned as he tried to hide the embarrassment on his face; he stared at Leya's back with an in-depth look as he thought to himself.

'Hmph! So what, with that attitude, I doubt anyone else would take her; besides, it's not like she's the only one that's special in this batch of recruits. I can recruit one of those guys...'

While Jack thoughts rang here, his eyes showed a recollective look as he could picture a few faces. After a short while, he turned to the man before Leya, noticing that she was gaining on him. Still, as he saw his facial features, his pupils lit up as he knew that that person was the number one of today's Drilling Trials.

'It's him, that overpowering fellow, I mustn't lose this chance we must—' Jack was about to think something but soon halted in shock as he heard Leya's words.

"Uncle, wait! I want to join your party."

Leya said in a spoiled and brat-like tone, which fitted her looks that was oddly enough was far from being in alignment with her age.

"What the heck? She would join another instead of us?" One of Jack's cronies said in surprise.

"She's looking down on us; even if that guy is powerful for a rookie, how can one man compare to the value of an experienced team?" Another crony said.

Jack bit his lips with a red face filled with rage, his fists clenched tightly as his fat jiggled on his face. He was thinking of adding Marius to his team, but he no longer felt the mood for some reason.

While Jack and his group had their different reactions, Marius looked at Leya in surprise as he spoke, "You want to join my team? You should know that I haven't formed or joined any parties so far, so why are you asking such a thing?"

Leya looked at him directly and replied, "Of course I know that, I'm not stupid. As for why I want to join you—"

As Leya spoke here, she turned her head to the side and continued in a slightly hesitant tone, "That's my secret! Anyways, I've already decided to join your team, and I won't change my mind."

Marius felt a headache as he heard those words, even more so when he saw the stubborn look in her eyes. He, too, had seen far too many such faces before in his past. Still, it was mostly those targets that wanted to cling to every last strand of their life, very troublesome opponents indeed.

'Ah crap, Ria isn't going to be happy... of all things to happen, I had to encounter the stubborn female type; it looks like I might just fall into the category of those guys in those novels with harems.'

When Marius made a heavy sigh to himself, Leya looked at him curiously, wondering what he was thinking, she was about to ask, but sadly, a few other voices sounded.

"Count me in; I've wanted to find a good partner, everyone else is a bit off standard, but I'm fine working with you both," A spunky voice said.

"Me... too..." A grim but somewhat shy male voice said.

When Marius and Leya heard this, they looked in the direction the voices came from, ignoring the still glaring Jack Lawrence and his party only to notice two peculiar faces.

The first person who spoke being a familiar archer with a large hat that hid his face and a red ponytail, and the second being a meek-looking pale-skinned young man, his eyes hidden beneath his black hair that fell to his nose as he hunched over in an odd posture.

Leya's eyes lit up as she saw these two appear; Marius also had a slight flicker in his eyes as he thought.

'Well shit, to think these talented fellows would also flock to me, what am I some beacon for heroes? Tsk, these guys were pretty good too, not too weak when compared to those others in the trials.'

While both Leya and Marius had their thoughts, Jack and his party members watched on with shocked expressions, never believing that such a scene would occur.

"What the hell? They're all gathering with him; this is bullshit!" One person said.

Jack felt so angry at this that he didn't know what to say; after giving Marius and Leya a fierce look, he bit his lips before turning around and walking away.

"Squad leader, wait up!" The others said as they saw him leaving, they hurried to catch up but didn't get too close as they knew his mood was probably at rock bottom.

Jack said nothing to anyone; his eyes only shone with a menacing intent as he thought to himself.

'Leya... Marius... humph! Don't worry; I'll show you both that even if you're not on my squad, we can do better than both of you.'

Not even noticing Jack had left, Marius, who finished gathering his thoughts, stared at the two before he spoke, "You guys sure are odd; how can you just walk up to a stranger like me and expect to become party members. I don't even know your names."

The two guys looked at each other before they spoke as if having discussed prior.

"Haha, the name's Quon Ranger; pleased to meet you." The red ponytail archer said.

"I-Illiak Olon," The meek youth said as he slightly lifted his head, peaking at Marius from his eyes hidden beneath his hair.

"Good, we've now met and been introduced; all should be good," Quon said with a hearty smile.

"Hehe, these guys are funny, so odd but funny," Leya said with a smirk.

Marius sighed at this, even more so when he heard them formerly introduce themselves; he asked, "Let me guess, you're both not thinking of changing your minds either?"

"Nope. I'm afraid you'll have to accept us directly or put up us tailing you from now onwards, friend." Quon said with a smile.

"I... I as well," Illiak said with his head held down.

Marius lamented at this as he shook his head. He gave them a good look over before he answered, "Alright, you can tag along, but I won't make any promises. Besides, having a few brats to follow me from now onwards isn't such a bad thing; I could use some porters, hahaha!"

Marius walked away when he said this, causing a look of shock to form on their faces.

"Hey, I said that I'm going to be your party member, not some shitty porter!" Leya shouted as she ran behind Marius, trying to catch up to him.

"Huhu... this fellow isn't so bad, see I told you he'd accept us, sometimes you got to have faith Illiak," Quon said as he stared at his friend.

"R... right." Illiak answered a bit shyly with his head still held down. 

Quon shook his head at this as he spoke, "Come, let's catch up, we need to get our first mission; after doing a mission together, I'm sure we'll be able to make a better impression, you know what we're both fighting for."

Illiak though a bit shy, showed a firmer look in his vaguely revealed eyes; he nodded and answered, "I do... let's go."

"There we go; that's the spirit," Quon said as he slapped Illiak's shoulder, the two hurrying along to catch up with Marius and Leya as they went further towards the core of the Seeker's Union to accept their first Mission.