Chapter 930 Filling Their Numbers
Since Athena agreed to guide them, the rest of the conversation was much more straightforward, with Kary explaining what they were walking into.
Athena seemed captivated by the idea of trying out her capabilities on this side of the veil, on something other than immobile targets. Almost too excited, to be fair.
Alex wasn't sure when they would get there, and what airport they would land at, so he couldn't give her those details, but they made sure to fill her in on everything they could.
In the end, it wasn't a long call, since Athena was having trouble understanding some details they were trying to explain to her.
The language barrier was hindering them greatly, which was already a downside, but not being able to share with her the images they had, to help explain, was their downfall.
They ended up confusing the poor girl more than anything, and promised to re-explain everything once they landed in Korea and made contact with her. It would be much easier in person, that much they were sure of.
After settling all the details about where to land and where to meet that were best for both of them, Alex left the conference call, letting Kary and Athena speak to each other.
He could tell from Kary's smile that it was appreciated, and he kissed her on the forehead before moving over to the kitchen to text a few people without feeling like he was prying.
Even though the neuro-phones cut the sound out of conversations, and Kary didn't need to speak to be heard, it still felt rude to him just to stay there and wait. It felt to him like he was eavesdropping, even though he couldn't hear a thing.
He started texting David, to find out if he had reached out to people to bring to Korea, and was surprised by the man's readiness.
David called him, refusing to continue this conversation over text.
"Of course, I reached out to people. Did you think I was going to let you handle everything? I can trust Kary to plan these things out, but you? I wouldn't trust you as far as I can throw you, hah!" David mocked.
Alex frowned.
"You realize you can throw me pretty far, right? That expression hardly applies to people like us, now..." he complained.
"Right..." David replied, realizing the irony of his comment.
"Nevertheless, I would never rely on you to plan everything. Originally, I wasn't going to rely on anyone, remember? So, of course, I have already started making calls."
Alex scoffed at his nonchalance.
"Tell me who you got," he huffed, insulted that David still preferred to handle as much as he could alone.
"I managed to get the priest kid back, Cody?"
"You mean Cory. At least don't fuck up their names..."
"Huh... I couldn't have sworn it was Cody. Well, it's on him for not correcting me once. Anyway. I got him, as well as little Jonathan. His old man wasn't happy about it, but he could hardly fault me since I didn't force the kid."
"Oh?" David exclaimed.
"I wasn't sure she would give me the time of day if I called her. But it's a good thing you convinced her, even though I'm sure it was mostly Kary's doing. Her archery skills will be a great boon to our hunt."
"Hey! I was the one who suggested we call her. Kary only acted as the intermediary in this case," Alex rebuked, pissed that David was attributing his thunder to Kary.
"Congratulations, dick head. You were an adult for a single conversation. Want a medal?" David mocked.
"Pfft! Fuck you too, asshole," Alex spat.
"Are you going to let me finish? Or are you going to keep interrupting?" David asked, sounding impatient.
"Because you're the one who said I was taking too long," he added.
Alex grumbled, "Fine," biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from commenting again.
Aside from those three, I also got a guy from the guild who lives in Finland. A rifleman by the name of Simo? Apparently, he did well in some test you administered a while back, and Kary put a note next to his name that said 'Promising Talent.'
"I thought it would be a good addition to our party. I don't want us to be too many there since we would be grabbing too much attention, so I figured ten would be a good number. Adding Athena makes eleven. I think that's enough."
Alex recounted, ensuring he wasn't forgetting anyone, and came to the same number as David. But the pause didn't escape the undead player.
"Did you just recount my math?" he asked, peeved.
"Just making sure your brain hasn't rotted too much yet," Alex mocked.
"Fuck off," David spat, huffing.
"Hey, I'm only treating you like you treat me, you dick," Alex chuckled.
"Anyway, if you think that is enough, then we can go with just that many. It's a shame, though. With only one more person, we'd have been a full party of twelve," he added.
David paused.
"I mean... I can think of one more person, but it seems like a stretch..."
"Huh?" Alex asked, confused.
"We could bring Xavier... I'm not sure how much he has awakened of his powers yet, but if he has even ten percent of what I know he's capable of, he would already be a great boon to our party," David said, sounding hesitant.
"That sounds great. Why do you sound so conflicted about this?" Alex asked.
"Because I'm not sure I want to risk him dying... Me being here depends on him being alive..." David replied after another pause.
"Beg your pardon?"